Nirenberg (Marshall Nirenberg)

Marshall Nirenberg was a pioneering scientist who helped decipher the genetic code—the instructions inside cells that determine how proteins are made. In the 1960s, he and his colleagues identified how sequences of three DNA or RNA building blocks (called codons) specify particular amino acids, the components of proteins. This breakthrough revealed the exact language cells use to produce vital proteins, advancing our understanding of biology and medicine. Nirenberg's work earned him a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1968, marking a milestone in genetics and molecular biology.